As I’ve previously mentioned, we’re in the rainy season. Just to give you a sense of how rainy – we have had more rainfall this year than any year in Guatemala since 1949. And we haven’t even gotten through September and October, which are predicted to be the wettest months of all. Typically, the mornings are sunny, and the afternoons wet. Friday morning the rain started early and did not stop. I left Toto at 6 AM to help out some other PCVs conducting an HIV/AIDs workshop at a school in Buena Vista, an aldea of San Bartolo, Totonicapán (not to be confused with the San Bartolo in Sacatepéquez where I was for training). After the taller (workshop), a few of us went into Xela for lunch and coffee. In spite of a raincoat and umbrella and boots, my pants were damp the entire day. By the afternoon, Peace Corps put us on “hold” – a phrase not officially defined, but which more or less means don’t travel. Even more disappointing, I was planning to head to Guatemala City yesterday morning, but instead have been stuck inside.
Saturday I baked cookies – snickerdoodles – some plain and some with oats and M & Ms. They turned out great. I also made fried rice with bacon and vegetables. Great comfort food. I decided I needed to switch things up a little. Avocadoes, tomatoes, and cucumbers have become the staples of my diet. A typical lunch for me is a mashed up avocado with lime and salt on a roll with slices of tomato and cucumber. Last week, much to my disappointment, I bought a rotten avocado and a sour cucumber, so resorted to just plain tomato sandwiches, which with a little mayo, salt, pepper, and basil are delicious, although they make me feel a little like Harriet the Spy. I also eat quite a lot of tortillas and make a vegetable pasta dish once a week. One of the best parts of my site is the market. I can get fresh fruits and vegetables, in addition to meat, pasta, tortillas, salt, sugar, bread, oil, etc. every day. Although mango is out of season, there are one or two women who still sell perfectly ripe fresh slices of mango in the market nearly every day. The pineapple, strawberries, bananas, watermelon, and papaya are also delicious and my favorite mid-morning snack. While Tuesdays and Saturdays are the biggest market days, the market is always happening. Tuesdays and Saturdays just happen to be a hundred times more overwhelming.
Some more disturbing news I have is that two of my Peace Corps friends were in a terrible car accident Wednesday morning. They are both alive, for which we are all so grateful! Brittany and Dirk are both Health Homes volunteers who swore in with me in July. They were traveling in a microbus with their co-workers from the Centro de Salud for a day-long excursion when the brakes went out. They flipped three times, crashed into a tree, and three of their Guatemalan co-workers and friends were killed. Dirk, has been in the hospital with three broken ribs, a broken clavicle, and broken shoulder. He was supposed to be medically evacuated the following day, but due to the weather has remained in the hospital in Xela. Brittany, though bruised up and I’m sure emotionally shaken, escaped without any major injuries. Here’s the article that was in the news Thursday:
(They must have gotten one name wrong – the male volunteer’s name is Dirk Davis.)
Mueren tres personas por accidente en Quetzaltenango
Un médico y dos auxiliares de enfermería perdieron la vida este miércoles, luego de un accidente en el kilómetro 196.5 de la carretera entre Quetzaltenango y Retalhuleu.
POR PRENSA LIBRE.COM
Quetzaltenango
Se trata del médico Enrique Rivas y los auxiliares Rolando Aguilar y Mario Delfino García. También resultaron heridas nueve personas, entre ellas los estadounidenses Alex Davids Porton y Brittany Mosher.
Las víctimas se transportaban en un microbús que volcó por causas que se desconocen; habían salido de Huehuetenango y se dirigían a los parques del Irtra de Retahuleu.
Con información de Angel Revolorio
In conclusion to this blog post, I’d like to include a quote from a friend which I thought was funny: “I was telling my sis that PC is like an acid trip. You can read all about it, and ask people what it’s like, but until you do it…you just don’t know.” This particular friend also has the best blog name – you can check her out at www.goldrimmedteeth.blogspot.com
I’m so sorry about your fellow PCVs. Local transport is always so very risky.
Do take care, Elizabeth. I know it’s impossible to get around without using local transport, but be wise. We used to always ask in Thailand that they go slow… and even pay more if they did.
We hada great trip to South Africa. I just posted a few pix.